Thad's GOLDEN Birthday

Thad’s actual birthday was low key after having an awesome birthday party the weekend before and he was the best sport about it.

  We had a fun morning giving him his gifts - he loves his new bike (and Wes is excited to inherit Thad’s old one) and Eve was so kind to gift him the Valentine’s I picked out for him at the store. So thoughtful!

I sent him off to school on his own because Wes was sick but had to pick him up early because he choked on his food and threw up so the school made him go home (Influenza A was the actual culprit we found out...Everyone got it except me). It was a weird day!

But he enjoyed the half day off and playing outside with friends before his favorite dinner, fettuccini alfredo. He opted for ice cream at Jeni’s instead of cake (frosting isn’t his thing) and just Thad and the girls went because Wes and dad were not feeling good. Easiest cake ever...but I should have brought a candle! I sure love this dude and his willingness to go with the flow

Luckily he had a way awesome birthday party the weekend before and he was still riding high on the waves of fun from that night! Look at all those cute boys that came and had a fun night at the church doing Thad’s favorite thing—basketball. 

The night included: 

Knockout, Nachos, War Ball, Basketball, Brownies, and lots of the cutest, loudest 5th graders we know!

 

 When it's time to party, we party hard!

Happy golden birthday Thaddeus, we think the world of you. It's hard to believe you are more than halfway done with your years at home with us, I don't like the think about that, but I can't wait to see what you become. You're on track for incredible things!

11 Things we love about Thad

11.  Basketball love burning strong as ever

10. Your swag

9. Your desire to choose the right

8. Best oldest child

7. Your progress on the piano over the past few months

6. Your willingness to forgive and forget

5. Trusting mom and dad

4. Your faith filled heart keeping up with Come Follow Me

3. How sweet you are with Mae

2. The example you're setting for Wes

1. That you're still not too big to cozy up with mom or dad

7-Month Mae

Month SEVEN was filled with ALL the faces and we love every single one of them!

 

She didn't feel well for a bit this month and it was sorta sad-

 Messed up some sleeping, but she fell back into it with a few nights in the bonus room again.

These sisters!!

 With every passing month, these two fall more in love with each other! Mae is always looking for Eve and loves that we get to spend our days together.

This girl has some awesome tricks and we hang on the edge of every single one-

SUPER BABY!

She is constantly doing this if she’s on the floor and just barely figured out how to roll from her tummy to back because she has been blocking herself with her wings!

So close to sitting on her own!

 

Anything and everything goes straight to her mouth for taste testing.

  

FOOD!!

 It took her a minute to warm up to, but she is a big fan and loving all the time in the high chair, too.

The cutest baptism goer there ever was! A baby makes any celebration that much sweeter.

Just being cute at home with siblings or on her own...it doesn't really matter-

 (She rolled over and took the play mat with her!)

This girl started sleeping really well this month after recovering from her many sicknesses. She weighs about 22 lbs and is getting so strong pulling/pushing/rolling that weight around! We sure love this fantastic 7-month old!

Monsen Girls Take Texas

I decided after we got home from Utah that I really wanted to take a trip with the girls to Texas. Abby and I have talked about how we would really love to see each other at least once a year and she came to Ohio last winter, so it was my turn to head to Texas...and I'm so glad I did!

We got lucky and scored an extra seat on our flights down to Austin and the girls were AWESOME! As you can see, Mae slept like an angel and Eve was the biggest helper. We had a layover in Atlanta that turned into almost 3 hours instead of 1, but we met the nicest young couple heading to Austin on their "babymoon" and they helped us out so much. She held Mae while I went to the bathroom and ended up watching our stuff when we had to switch planes unexpectedly. Luckily I have the cutest gals on the planet and I'm so grateful for good people in this world.

Jamie was the sweetest and hosted a reunion at her house and these were the only pics I got. I love all these women so much and miss them terribly! The ward has split since we’ve moved so it was a little reunion for the wards too. We all talked about how much we miss each other and had the best morning catching up!

 Mae, Penny, and Whit also got to meet and having all three babies together was the best!

 

After a wonderful day at Jamie’s, we spent the evening at the Cochran’s and loved every minute! Eve and Sevi haven’t skipped a beat and Whit and Mae just make my heart burst. Abby is such a wonderful friend and being with her was good for my soul.

Eve even got to have two sleep overs at Sevi's house and had a blast!

 

I spent a good part of Saturday in the glorious sun and soaked it up! 

 Seeing cousins from Waco was a highlight of the trip and went by way too fast. We reminisced about our Texas days together and weren’t ready to say goodbye when the time came. We miss them (and the sun) so so much this winter! 

 

After lunch we went back to Rock Shelf Lane to say hello to Thon and Wendy, see our fave Cochrans some more, and then head to dinner with the best gals. 

 The Beckers were so surprised to see us and it just felt like good old times when they came out to chat for a bit. We met some really great people in that great state of Texas.

 We had such a fun time at Jack Allen's--I really miss book club and GNO with these beautiful faces!

Alysha - Me - Becky - Heather

Alisha - Kristen - Katie - Jamie - Abby

 

We spent Sunday with the Dukes and catching up with lots more of our favorites at the Walsh Ranch Ward. I felt right at home in those pews with those people.

 

 

 

Speaking of the Dukes—They were wonderful hosts and loved on my girls so much and I love them so much for it!

 (Never forget the cutest Tik Toks Cali made with Mae)

We spent our last evening at the Hatch’s watching the Super Bowl and covering about 1/8 of the things we could have talked about! We love this family so much and Audrey’s love for my girls is something special.

 We definitely didn't get enough time with them but hopefully we get to see them sooner rather than later.

Our trip concluded Monday morning and although we didn’t get those middle seats, the flights were just as successful! How happy I am that I got to take my girls to see some of my favorite people.

 Texas has my heart, I can’t wait to go back.